“Antonio?” he said to the little boy on his lap. “That’s one of my favorite restaurants in New Bedford.”

The kid smiled.

“This is party number three today,” said Linda Schofield, credentialing specialist at Stanley Street Treatment and Resources in Fall River.

By 3 p.m. Friday, the day’s last bash was in full swing, Santa Claus, reindeer and all.

“The reindeer are the billing department,” Schofield said of the three female carolers who belted out Christmas classics while wearing felt reindeer antlers.

“The first party we had this morning was for our inpatients,” Schofield said. “We have 70 beds.

“They had coffee, fruit, fruit juice and danish.”

Schofield said Dunkin’ Donuts had been particularly generous, donating what she called “huge containers of coffee.”

“At noon, we had a second party with The Peaceful Coalition from Durfee,” she said.

“They had live entertainment, the teens sang some of their own songs, and they danced.”

At the day’s third party, 150 kids, children of SSTAR’s clients, waited to get personalized Christmas presents from the jolly old elf who knows his New Bedford restaurants.

“Counselors give the names of their clients’ children and what they want,” Schofield said. “Staff and friends of SSTAR try to fill the request, so it’s not just random gifts.”

There was pizza in a side room, music everywhere and Santa’s full-bellied “Ho! Ho! Ho!” over all, as the kids lined up to take their gifts.

“Don’t be scared,” a mother told her near-to-tears child. “It’s only Santa.”

It was, indeed, only Santa and, between singing with the carolers and handing out presents, he had a spoken message for every child.

“Wherever you go, spread love, honey,” he told a little girl.

Stanley Street Treatment and Resources, a nonprofit health care and social service agency, provides a wide range of mental health and substance abuse treatment services to people in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.